Taco Bell Hepatitis A Legal Cases

In December of 2000, the Lake County Health Department (LCHD) learned of seven hepatitis A cases, including five hospitalizations, in Lake and neighboring Sumter Counties in a two week span.  LCHD notified the Florida Department of Health, and the two public health agencies conducted a joint investigation into the hepatitis A outbreak, which revealed 21 hepatitis A cases in the two counties. 

A case-control study indicated that food served at the Taco Bell restaurant in Fruitland Park, Florida, was the source of the hepatitis A outbreak, and further epidemiologic evidence showed that green onions were the most likely vehicle of transmission for the hepatitis A virus. 
During its investigation, LCHD learned that hepatitis A outbreaks in several other states had been traced to the consumption of green onions at Taco Bell.  Residents of Kentucky and Nevada had become ill with hepatitis A after eating at Taco Bell. 

LCHD and other investigators ultimately identified 23 people who had become ill with hepatitis A after eating green onions at Taco Bell.  In total, 15 cases required hospitalization due to the severity of their symptoms. 

LCHD concluded that “[a]lthough most foodborne outbreaks of hepatitis A are due to food contaminated by an infected food preparer, we believe the ingredients were contaminated prior to arrival at the outlet in this outbreak. . . . The most likely contaminated ingredient is green onion.” 

Marler Clark represented four clients in claims against Taco Bell after they became ill with hepatitis A infections.  The last of the claims was resolved in 2006.